


Seeds of Discord Pt. 12

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [13]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing, Sexual Content, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:56:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3303194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>Steve has an epiphany, and it is time to make something happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of Discord Pt. 12

Steve kneels down in the sand to inspect the footprint. It is light and small—a woman’s foot. The smell of clean ocean and musky seaweed settles deeply in his nose, and almost makes him remember something that happened a long time ago. He can’t quite find the memory. The smell of the ocean is taunting his brain. He presses his own foot into the footprint and tries to imagine her actual feet: their perfect shape, the place just at the inverted “V” at the ball of her foot. He thinks of the reaction he triggers when he presses into that place. He begins to follow the footprints, keeping his feet in them as much as he can without erasing them.

When the footprints abruptly end, he is overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness. In front of him is a marble structure—an ancient temple to Artemis, the huntress. When he approaches, he sees that her arms are missing; her bow is broken; sculpted marble arrows splay about her feet. 

Continuing on, he finds a practically abandoned, ancient town. The denizens of the place are old. He looks everywhere, even in the most unlikely places: through the cracks in old clay walls, through the windows of other peoples’ homes. Startled strangers gape back at his obscured face. He breaks down doors and looks behind them—the doors lead nowhere. When he returns to the beach, he digs through sand with bare hands, and the sand slips through his fingers and falls back into place, obscuring her footprints. 

He sees her darkened image against the sun and he calls to her, but she recedes into the brightness. He runs toward her as she withdraws. He sees her outline surrounded by pure, white light; it hurts his eyes. It hurts his skin. He smolders from the inside and out through his skin. He catches up with her, and they both burn in the center of the sun. She turns to him; He puts his fingers to her head and her hair singes. He takes her hand and it disintegrates into ash. She doesn’t seem to mind; in fact she smiles at him, and her face is so brilliantly peaceful it nearly makes his heart stop. She turns and walks; he follows. He still sees her; the ground feels like broken glass through his feet. He is afraid of what she might be trying to tell him.

She passes through the bright heat and guides him to where she stands. They are purged—clean as new-borns, and absolutely whole. Everything is different now. They clasp each other’s hands; their palms are cool to the touch. He holds her naked body to his, and their hearts beat into one another. They are one heart. That is still the same. Some things are absolute. When he opens his eyes, her side of the bed is still empty. Diana is very neat and orderly. He wishes there was at least a strand of hair on her pillow, maybe something she wore to bed underneath it, but there is no trace of his wife in their bed. He gives himself permission to sob into her pillow without caring that one of his friends and colleagues (he’s not even sure who has babysitting duties right now) may hear him. 

When he gets up, he showers, shaves, does his best to pull himself together. When he emerges from the bedroom, he carries a duffel bag with his costume, and his shield is strapped to his back. Tony and Bruce look up from their coffee and files. He knows, somehow, that Natasha has come through with the information they need. He can see it on his friends' faces. He remembers some kind of direction from his dream, even though most of it has faded. He just knows. He doesn't owe anyone a reason. “Let’s go,” he tells them.


End file.
